Steven Motlop and Janet Baird selected as NTFL captains to take on CAFL in rep games

The NTFL has named two squads brimming with talent ready to take on the CAFL in a match that will reignite the interleague rivalry after 41 years. See who made the squads.

The NTFL has selected two sides packed with talent and experience ready to take on the CAFL in the first interleague game between the two Territory outfits since 1984.

Former AFL and AFLW players, interstate stars and plenty of local talent will make up the squads fresh off the NTFL season to play in his match at Traeger Park on Saturday.

Premiership winning Southern Districts coach Shannon Rusca will coach the men with former Geelong and Port Adelaide player Steven Motlop his captain.

Motlop had a big year winning the NTFL with the Crocs and scored 41 goals along the way, while St Mary’s defender Kieren Parnell is in as vice-captain.

Jasmyn Hewett will be a player-coach for the women after winning her third NTFL best and fairest medal while playing for PINT.

Her captain is premiership winning St Mary’s club leader Janet Baird, while a fellow Queenant Reni Hicks comes in as vice-captain.

Steven Motlop and Janet Baird have been named captains for the NTFL side playing the CAFL team in the 2025 rep fixture. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The talent doesn’t stop there with the men having their pick of premier ruckman Wyatt Ryan, leading goal scorer Jackson Calder and the constant ball threats of Dylan Landt and Jarrod Stokes.

“I get to put all that talent together for a couple of hours and hopefully they get something out of it,” Rusca said.

“These players have something you have to combat as a coach in season but now we get to embrace them all together in one squad.

“They’ve all put their hands up and brought in and the CAFL are coming into season so it will be a great contest we hope will embraced by the community and something Alice needs.

“The game will be played the Territory way both ways, fast and free flowing and hopefully we get one over Matt Campbell and his CAFL side.”

The NTFL squad has been announced to take on the CAFL in the 2025 rep fixture. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The women’s team is boasting plenty of strength in its own right with youngsters such as the past two Rising Star winners Shakaila Gardiner-Dunn and Marika Carlton getting a go.

Nightcliff Gabrielle Deller and Tiwi’s Maria Rioli will also join forces in the representative team setting the stage for a showcase of the Territory’s women’s talent.

“It’s a great honour and a huge privilege to coach this team, we get to play against this exceptional talent each week and now we all get to come together,” Hewett said.

“It’s going to be a showcase of the talent we have across the Territory, both up here and in Alice Springs, and with Traeger being a big ground we can showcase the speed and skill we have here.

The NTFL squad has been announced to take on the CAFL in the 2025 rep fixture. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“We haven’t previously been able to get Alice Springs onboard for our rep games so to bring this back to the Red Centre where it begun is a really good opportunity for the NT as a whole.

“We have an exceptionally talented squad with players all carrying different strengths and as a collective they will be able to play a really exciting brand of footy.

“It’s a great opportunity for the rest of Australia to see what the NT has to offer.”

Red Centre icon lauds return of interleague rivalry

Former North Melbourne goal sneak and Pioneer legend Matt Campbell is leading the charge for annual interleague matches between the CAFL and the NTFL.

The Alice Springs-Darwin interleague rivalry will be revived after an extraordinary 41-year absence when the two representative sides meet at Traeger Park in Alice Springs on Saturday.

Not since the John Stokes coached NTFL beat a CAFL side under Syd Lee’s coaching by 13 goals in a May, 1984 game in the Red Centre have the two ends of the NT clashed.

This year’s twilight clash represents the 10th time the two leagues have met since the inaugural game was played in Darwin three years after the end of WWII.

Campbell will coach the Centralian side against the Shannon Rusca coached NTFL in a game he hopes will become a constant fixture on Northern Territory football’s landscape.

Matt Campbell was named the best on ground as Pioneer beat Federal in the 2024 CAFL grand final. Picture: Charlie Lowson / AFLNT Media

Women’s representative football is also on the agenda with Jasmyn Hewett coaching the NTFL side against Sheralee Taylor’s CAFL in the lead up to the men’s game.

A big supporter of interleague football despite the four-decade absence between the two major leagues in the NT, Campbell can see a long list of positives in playing an annual clash.

His main priority is showcasing Australian football Territory style at both ends of the NT with its pacy breakaways, freakish skills and unbelievable goal kicking.

“It’s not about the result, it’s about the occasion and putting the spotlight on a game that will make Territory footy better instead of showcasing our best players against southern sides from the SANFL and WAFL and previously the NEAFL,” Campbell said.

“Unfortunately, we won’t be fielding our best side with two Minahan medallists Abe Ankers and Daniel Gorry missing through wedding commitments.

“But apart from those two we’ve got a pretty strong side with some of the best community lads who play in the town competition lining up for us.”

Other positives are big marking forwards Waylon Manson and two-time Minahan medallist Daniel Stafford will line up for Alice Springs, along with highly rated players like Bradley Turner, Shawn and Luke Foster, Jackson Cole and Deacon Braun.

Daniel Stafford is one of the players to look out for in the CAFL. Picture: Charlie Lowson / AFLNT Media

“This is the real stuff for our best local talent, an opportunity to fully recognise the quality footballers we’ve produced away from just NT Thunder playing in the NEAFL,” Campbell said.

“We’re expecting a top notch NTFL side on the day, remembering that any time Shannon Rusca, Mark Motlop and Michael “Magic” McLean get together they’ll produce a quality side.

“When I spoke about this game with Sam Gibson and Mago I made it really clear that you’ve got to have the right people involved and they’ve done that, because I know Shannon, Mago and Mark will create a lot of interest in the game while gaining the respect of the players.

“We’re aware there are footy seasons starting off down south and a lot of quality players will be tied up with those clubs and might not have the freedom to play in this game.

“But it will be a fair squad, bearing in mind we’re trying to put how much talent in the NTFL is home-grown.

“There is criteria in selection, but I want to see some of the names like the Stokes boys, the AhMats, Longs and Riolis turn out for the NTFL.

“Brodie Carroll has been a great player for Waratah this season and Matty Motlop is the same at Wanderers, Jed Anderson was very unlucky not to win the Nichols Medal and Brodie Lake was great at Southern Districts.”

Shannon Rusca will coach the NTFL, fresh off a grand final win with Southern Districts. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Campbell hopes Steven Motlop, the former Geelong and Port Adelaide forward is part of the side, three-time Nichols medallist Brodie Filo is one of the first players picked, St Mary’s spearhead Jackson Calder and the Landt brothers will be in Alice Springs.

“When I say home-grown talent I mean guys who have invested in the NTFL competition for a number of years, because I don’t want to see players out there who have been there for five minutes and played 10 or 15 games over the past 10 to 20 years,” he said.

Originally published as Steven Motlop and Janet Baird selected as NTFL captains to take on CAFL in rep games